Click the picture to see more on Arthur

Above is one of Mary's pictures, from when Arthur received "The Award for Excellence in Social Action." from the New England United Methodist Conference.

Presents for our retiring president

Our new acting president

Final President’s report 2007

I’ve been president of Merrimack Valley People For Peace for 4 years, and it’s time for me to pass the reins on to Ralph Galen. I’m thrilled that he has accepted this responsibility. I’ve known Ralph for years, and I trust that he will provide inspiration and energy over the next year along with our other new officers, Jim and Mary Todd, and Arthur Brien. Thank you all for stepping forward to continue the important work that we do. I will stay on as a UJP liaison, since I feel that the networking and coordinating of activities that we do at the UJP monthly meetings are so effective and important.

Together we have accomplished a great deal in these past four years. By necessity, we’ve become a very different group since 9/11 than the smaller group who sometimes fit around one table, especially when we were still North Andover People For Peace. We are now recognized in the greater Boston peace community as an important, active peace group. We vigil regularly in Andover and in Newburyport, and we have been noticed. Our members have written many wonderful letters to the editor, and our members and MVPP have been featured in numerous newspaper articles.

This year we held 2 important big events: In September, our DU (Depleted Uranium) committee collaborated with many other organizations in the Newburyport area to bring Helen Caldicott to talk about her new book, Nuclear Power is NOT the Answer. Then, last month, our Israel/Palestine Committee invited Alice Rothchild, author of Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience, for a book signing. The evening was a successful effort to continue the outreach regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after all the misunderstandings and upset that occurred around the invitation for the Wheels of Justice to speak at Andover High School. MVPP also held some special commemorative vigils, and a number of members have participated in events in Boston, other places in New England, Washington DC, and Fort Benning, Georgia to protest the war and our government’s policies. We sold lots of our wonderful buttons, bumper stickers, and flags, thanks to Becci’s purchases, when we tabled at the Lowell Folk Festival, the Bread and Roses Festival, Paws for Peace, Andover Town Day, and our own 2 events. With the help of MVPP members Larry Peacock and Anne Broyles, we received a wonderful donation of $1000 earmarked for our counter-recruitment efforts, and we’ve made some important inroads at Greater Lawrence Technical High School and at Lawrence High School in the past year.

I would like to recognize two other outgoing officers who have contributed so much to MVPP. Becci Backman, our vice president, chief peddler, membership chair, and so much more…and Sue Imhoff, our treasurer, have given so much of their time and energy, including emotional energy, over the past few years. We’ve faced some major challenges, and they have taken their toll on our organization and on our leadership and membership. But we have made some significant gains since then, and we’re leaving MVPP in very good hands.

With the help of Mike Prokosch, we’ve identified our priorities, and how we want to function as an organization. We’ve reorganized ourselves into a number of committees, to spread out the work at hand among more members. We still have a long road ahead of us, with so many upsetting choices our government has made, but the peace movement in general has been building over the past few years, and more and more people have had enough with this war, and enough with the abuse of power of our current government. MVPP has wonderful members, totally committed to peace and justice, and to making the world a better place. Together we can do that. I look forward to continuing to work with each one of you to change the direction of our country and return some sanity into our lives and into the world situation.

Bobbie Goldman
June 15, 2007

Merrimack Valley People for Peace
Officers and Board, 2007-2008

Officers
Acting President - Ralph Galen
Vice President - Jim Todd
Clerk - Mary Todd
Treasurer - Arthur Brien

Corresponding Secretary - Niki Rosen
UJP Liaison - Bobbie Goldman
Newsletter - Brian Quirk, Boryana Tacconi, Arthur Brien
MVPP web site - Brian Quirk

Board of Directors
2005-2008
Lou Bernieri
Barbara Haack
Masood Sheikh
Boryana Tacconi

2006-2009
Peter Cameron
Brian Quirk
Kathie Robinson
Mary Kate Small

2007-2010
Becci Backman
Bobbie Goldman
Richard Hudak
Niki Rosen
Pat Scanlon

MVPP Committees

Program Committees

End the War: congressional pressuring, petitions, new strategies, legislative networking, vigils, demonstrations
Pat Scanlon, Ralph Galen, Richard Hudak, Niki Rosen, Masood Sheikh, Jim Todd

Education for Peace and Justice: forums, schools, films
Kathie Robinson, Ralph Galen, Barbara Haack, Barbara Sullivan

Counter-recruiting
Arthur Brien, Peter Cameron, Charlotte Purcell, Pat Scanlon, Jim Todd,

Israel-Palestine
Richard Hudak, Becci Backman, Jane Cadarette, Ralph Galen, Barbara Haack, Mona Igram, Brian Quirk, Niki Rosen, Masood Sheikh

Depleted Uranium
Niki Rosen, Peter Cameron, Brian Quirk, Mary Todd


Administrative Areas
Nominating Committee
Barbara Haack, Arthur Brien, Ralph Galen, Niki Rosen,

Events Coordination (former Program Committee) ; potlucks, forums, special vigils
Boryana Tacconi, Kathie Robinson, Pat Scanlon

Publicity/ Media
Richard Hudak, Kathie Robinson, Mary Todd

Website: recent events
Brian Quirk, Boryana Tacconi

Newsletter
Brian Quirk, Arthur Brien, Mary Kate Small, Boryana Tacconi

Finance Committee
Arthur Brien, Brian Quirk, Jim Todd

Membership
Mary Kate Small, Arthur Brien, Ralph Galen, Barbara Haack, Richard Hudak

back to 2007 highlights